Kathmandu: Nepal beat Mauritius 1-0 in the second friendly match on Tuesday at Dasarath Rangasala. Sujal Shrestha scored the winning goal for the host nation.
Nepal dominated the first half and took a lead in 10 minutes of the match. Sujal Shrestha scored a goal with an assist from Pujan Uperkoti. The move was created following debutant Nabin Gurung’s corner kick. With this goal, Shrestha registered three goals in international football.
Shortly thereafter, Mauritius missed an important chance to equalize the game. The African side was awarded a penalty kick as Dinesh Rajbanshi fouled Linsley Brasse inside the penalty box. Mauritius skipper Andy Sophie took charge of the penalty but he didn’t succeed. Kiran Kumar Limbu, the Nepali goalie, made a heroic save of the penalty through a dive on the right side of the post. He was declared the man of the match.
Nepal created a few other notable chances in the first half. In the 35th minute, Tej Tamang made a direct attempt from around 25 yards but it went a little bit far from the left side of the post.
In the 38th minute, Nepal created another remarkable chance. Darshan Gurung missed a header in a free kick from Pujan Uperkoti. The ball went over the bar.
The second half did not see many notable chances but some tension as players from both sides appeared aggressive.
The players had a brawl in the 71st minute and as a result, Pujan Uperkoti of Nepal and Adrien Botlar of Mauritius received red cards. Again in the 80th minute, the match witnessed another red card with Emmanuel Foolchund of Mauritius sent off.
In the 90th minute, the match was halted for around 10 minutes after a technical issue hampered the floodlight.
In the last minutes of the match, Nepal created a remarkable chance. Anjan Bista made a direct hit from inside the penalty box but Mauritius goalie Loic Michel saved it through a punch.
“We played better than the previous match but could not utilize many opportunities,” said Marie Tony, coach of Mauritius, during the post-match press conference.
The coach also made a comment on the ground. He said, “It is not in good condition.”
“I am very happy with our players. They have proved that they can play against those who are physically very strong,” said Abdhulla Almutairi, coach of Nepal.
Almutairi also spoke about the brawl that took place during the game. “It’s normal,” he said.
Nepal had also won the first friendly match that took place on Saturday.
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